 There is perhaps no concept in baseball that people get more confused and upset about than the infield fly rule. I made a video about it seven years ago and people still comment almost every week on it, mostly because of one incorrect thing that I said in it, but still they're watching. It's actually not that difficult of a rule to understand. One of the reasons why it confuses so many people though is that it doesn't happen all that often. So when it does happen, it's often confusing and a bit controversial. If you can remember the rule though, applying it is fairly straightforward, except, you know, when it isn't. One other thing of note that was pointed out to me in the comments of that last video is that the infield fly rule does not apply to many younger levels of play, but everything herein applies to both Major League Baseball and the NCAA college rules. So the rule exists to protect the runners by preventing the defense from being able to pull a fast one on them so they can turn a double or triple play. This apparently kept happening enough that in 1895 someone sat down and wrote the rule, although a few things have been at it since. The rule basically says that if you know what, I don't usually do this, but since I got something wrong last time and people seem to get so upset by this rule, I'm just going to read it right from the rule book. Rule two, infield fly, is a fair ball, not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt, which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort when first and second or first second and third bases are occupied before two are out. The pitcher, catcher, and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule. Okay, so let's say we've got runners on first and second and one out. The ball's popped up right in front of home plate. What happens now? So back to the rule. When it seems apparent that the batted ball will be an infield fly, the umpire shall immediately declare infield fly for the benefit of the runners. If the ball is near the baselines, the umpire shall declare infield fly if fair. So as soon as the umpire says infield fly, the batter is out. Even if the ball falls right down and lands on the ground, he's still out. The batter being out, this removes the force plays at second and third base. So quote, the ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught or retouch and advance after the ball is touched. The same is on any fly ball. If a hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul. End quote. This is one aspect that seems to throw a lot of people off about this rule. And it might be the one thing that you really need to pay attention to in this video. I'll put it this way. Even if the infield fly rule applies and the ump calls out infield fly, if an infielder or anyone for that matter catches the fly ball, as will happen 95% of the time, it is as if the rule was never invoked in the first place. Right. So if the ball is caught, it's just a normal pop up. The batter is out on the fly out and the runners will probably stay on their bases because they can get doubled off. Now, if the runners want to try to tag up after the ball has been caught, they can. They'll probably get thrown out because an infielder is now presumably holding the ball in or close to the infield. But they can tag up just like on any other fly ball. So the infield fly rule really only matters in those rare instances where the ball is not caught. In this situation, as the rule says, the ball is alive and the runners can advance at their own risk. So if the ump calls infield fly, the runners can all run to the next base. And in the event that the ball is not caught, they are free to do so. Although keep in mind that they still can be tagged out at any point. It's just that there's no force play. They do not have to tag up. Obviously, you can't tag up if the ball isn't caught. On the flip side, though, if they take the risk and run to the next base and the ball is caught, they'll probably get doubled off at their original base. So the lesson here is if you're a runner and the umpire invokes the rule, just stay on your base. So back to the rule. If a declared infield fly is allowed to fall untouched to the ground and bounces foul before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball. If a declared infield fly falls untouched to the ground outside the baseline and bounces fair before passing first or third base, it is an infield fly. Right. So nothing different from normal rules here. You still can't be called out for a foul ball if it's not caught. It's just a foul ball. Of course, if a ball is popped up in foul territory before it reaches the base and the first baseman runs over and catches it, the batter is out because he caught it. Because again, if the ball is caught fair or foul, the infield fly rolling essentially doesn't matter. Now we get into the weeds of the rule that often causes some controversy. Quote, on the infield fly roll, the umpire is to rule whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder, not by some arbitrary limitation such as the grass or the baselines. The umpire must also rule that a ball is an infield fly, even if handled by an outfielder. If in the umpire's judgment, the ball could have been as easily handled by an infielder. So this rule has, in some sense, anticipated shifting in various defensive alignments. Basically, every field, even all astroturf fields, will have some kind of line drawn to show the end of the infield and the beginning of the outfield. But as this part of the rule states with regards to infield flies, that line is irrelevant. So ignore it. Where the infielders are standing is what matters. So let's take an extreme shift example. Say all of the infielders are on the right side of the infield because, I don't know, scientists have fused the DNA of Ted Williams and Barry Bonds. And this creation is up to that. If a ball is popped up here and it is going to land right where the third baseman usually stands, this is by definition a fly ball in the infield. But it would not be a situation where we would invoke the infield fly roll because no fielder can catch it with ordinary effort. Because they're all over on the other side. So the next part, quote, the infield fly is in no sense considered an appeal play. The umpire's judgment must govern and the decision should be made immediately. So basically, if the ball is popped up, and for whatever reason, the umpire does not call infield fly. Don't go whine into him if you end up dropping the ball and things go poorly for you. The rule is not in effect until the umpire says it is. Usually arguments arise when a pop-up is in that gray area of what is and isn't ordinary effort. It's up to the ump, deal with it. Now, like I said, the vast majority of the time, the defense catches the pop-up anyway. And I don't think this is an accident. If you're thinking you're going to somehow throw everyone off by intentionally dropping the ball and getting a force out and catching someone between bases, you're just inviting controversy. If you err on the side of caution and just catch the ball, whether or not the ump makes the call doesn't matter. The batter is a guaranteed out if you catch the ball, and you still may find a confused runner to pick off. But if you let that pop-up drop only to realize the umpire is screwed up and forgot to make the call and the ball takes a weird bounce and now everyone's safe, then nobody's happy. So anyway, here's where things get fun. Quote, when an infield fly rule is called, runners may advance at their own risk. If, on an infield fly rule, the infielder intentionally drops a fair ball, the ball remains in play despite the provisions of rule 5.09A12, the infield fly rule takes precedence. End quote. Oh boy here. Rule 5.09, section A, part 12, this is a rule that I'm going to bet a lot of people have never heard of. I guess we can call it the intentional drop rule. The infield fly rule's little brother, as if you weren't confused enough, now there's two of them. So what's it say? 509A12 says, a batter is out when an infielder intentionally drops a fair fly ball or line drive with first, first and second, first and third, or first, second and third base occupied before two are out. The ball is dead and the runner or runners shall return to their original bases. Second part of the rule. In this situation, the batter is not out if the infielder permits the ball to drop untouched to the ground, except when the infiel fly rule applies. So the second part of this is key because it emphasizes the original premise of an intentionally dropped fair fly ball or line drive. Thus it only applies when the ball was dropped on purpose. It does not apply if the infielder simply allows the ball to drop without touching it. So we have two items of note here. First, if a fielder allows a fair fly ball to drop untouched to the ground and there's only a runner on first, because the infield fly rule doesn't apply, then the batter is not out and he can run and thus the force play remains at second. If, on the other hand, a fielder allows a fair fly ball to drop untouched to the ground and there's runners on first and second with no outs, then the infield fly rule does apply and the batter would be out as per the infield fly rule. Second, going back to the passage in the infield fly rule, normally if a fielder intentionally drops a fly ball, the batter is out and the ball is dead as per 509A12. In an infield fly rule situation, however, if a fielder intentionally drops a fly ball, the batter is still out, this time because of the infield fly rule, but the ball is also still in play. So the only real difference here is that the ball stays in play on an infield fly rule situation. I mean really, it's basic stuff. I only had to re-throw nine times to get it straight. So quick recap, the key to the intentional drop rule. The batter is out, but it only applies if the fielder intentionally drops a fair fly ball or line drive. It does not apply if he lets it drop untouched in front of him. Okay, so back to the infield fly rule for our final paragraph. Quote, if interference is called during an infield fly, the ball remains alive until it is determined whether the ball is fair or foul. If fair, both the runner who interfered with the fielder and the batter are out. End quote. So in terms of interference, basically as a runner, you have to let a fielder make the play. So this is just saying, if the ball is popped up, even though the batter is going to be out whether the ball is caught or not, that doesn't give the runner free reign to just knock over an infielder. If he's trying to catch the ball, you have to let him make that play. And finally, if there's interference and the ball is foul, quote, if foul, even if caught, the runner is out and the batter returns to bat. End quote. So why is this a thing? Say the bases are loaded and there's a pop-up and foul territory between home and third base, and the third baseman tries to run over and catch it, but the runner on third blocks his path. The runner has now committed interference, so he's out. That's simple enough. Now, why does the batter get to return to bat, even if the fielder who was interfered with subsequently catches it anyway? Well, the penalty for interference is that the runner is out and the ball is dead. So in this situation, even though the ball is still in the air whilst the interference is being committed, it is immediately considered dead. Okay, so that's the rule. But one of the first questions people always have when they learn the infield fly rule is, why doesn't it also apply when there's only a runner on first base? After all, couldn't you let a ball drop and turn a quick double play that way too, right? And keep in mind, it would have to fall untouched or the intentional drop rule would apply. But yes, the defense could let the ball drop, but it seems to me, and I don't know why the rule originally left that out. But it seems to me that the expectation for a pop-up in the infield is that someone is likely going to get out. That's just kind of expected. And if it wasn't, then we wouldn't have the infield fly rule in the first place. So if I'm the offense with a runner on first base, and I pop up in the infield, I'm going to tell my runner on first base to stick close to first base. But I'm also going to tell my batter to get as close to first as he can too. This way, if the ball is caught, the runner just stays on first. And if the ball is dropped, then they'll probably throw it to second to get the force out there, and in which case the batter will just go to first base. Either way, it's only one out, no double plays, which is what the infield fly rule is trying to prevent. And that about wraps it up. I've just read the entire rule from start to finish to recap. Less than two outs. Runners on first and second are bases loaded. It does not apply to foul balls. It does depend where the fielders are standing, not where it lands. It doesn't happen unless the umpire calls it. It takes precedent over the intentional drop fly ball rule, and runners can still be called for interference. You are now an expert. Go forth and dissipate the confusion.